Nursing & Patient Care
Patient safety study breaks new ground
In 2003, Pat Reid Ponte, DNSc, RN, senior vice president for patient care services and chief of nursing, and Barbara Bierer, MD, senior vice president of research at Brigham and Women's Hospital, received major funding from the Commonwealth Fund and the National Patient Safety Foundation to conduct a ground-breaking study on patient safety. The study will help inform a growing national agenda on improving safety in health care.
The project builds on work that has been ongoing at DFCI since 2001, when a pilot program of "Patient Safety Rounds" was launched. Deborah Duncombe, risk manager, coordinated the rounds, talking directly to staff and asking, "Has anything happened that you think is an obstacle in providing safe care?" Issues identified were brought to an interdisciplinary committee that then triaged action plans for identified items.
In 2002, the rounds were implemented in all adult and pediatric infusion areas and physician clinics. In some areas, a pharmacist joined the rounding team. Mark Sudol, RPh, a clinical research pharmacist, joined the team on Dana 10. He notes, "As a member of the team, I was able to quickly identify and resolve some of the issues related to medication administration that arose."
Intrigued by the burgeoning success of this approach, Reid Ponte and Bierer devised a study that would help measure and describe its effects and would also test unique innovations. For example, on Dana 10, staff nurse Bette Jeanne Kelly, RN, OCN, began rounding with Duncombe and the nurse manager, and soon was seen by her colleagues as a resource on safety issues. One objective of the new study is to measure the effects of having such a "clinical safety champion" on a particular unit.
In addition, in keeping with Dana-Farber's commitment to involve patients and families in every aspect of operations, the study will also examine the effects of involving patient or family volunteers as "patient or family safety champions" on rounds. The volunteers will be drawn from the membership of the Dana- Farber/Brigham and Women's Adult Patient and Family Advisory Council and will talk with patients and families about their safety concerns. Reid Ponte is particularly enthused about this aspect of the project. She notes, "We know from our work with patients and families at large that we are very likely to gain further perspective and understanding of patient safety issues by involving patients in the process."
